When it comes to shopping in London, locations like Oxford and Regent Street are the places to go, providing shoppers with retail havens including John Lewis’ flagship six-level department store and the only Selfridges site south of Birmingham.
However, it's not just shoppers and tourists flooding these areas.
Shoplifters are flocking there too.
Close to 17 shoplifting crimes occur for every 1000 people in the City of Westminster every year, making the London borough the UK’s shoplifting capital, according to research from money.co.uk shop insurance.
Last year, over 8 million “theft incidents” occurred in the UK, with the British Retail Consortium predicting that these crimes cost retailers a total of £953 million.
Shoplifting is up by almost 22% year-on-year, figures from the Office of National Statistics found, with several large retailers including Co-op, John Lewis and Aldi being forced to make changes and suffer losses due to the epidemic.
Earlier this year, JD Sports fell victim to a TikTok trend that urged users to head to the sports retailer’s flagship store in Oxford Street to steal clothing and other products.
Money.co.uk shop insurance expert Cameron Jaques says: “In the world of retail, it's not a matter of 'if' but 'when' theft or shoplifting will occur. These unfortunate events can strike any business at any time, causing significant financial strain and disruption.”
Other areas which ranked high for shoplifting include Lincoln, Hartlepool, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Middlesborough, Cardiff, Norwich, Ipswich, and Newcastle.
Earlier this week, Burberry, John Lewis, M&S, and other major retailers urged Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, to address the situation, with Sharon White, the departing JLP boss, having previously called for a Royal Commission to prevent high streets from turning into “looting grounds”.